ince arriving in theU.S. in 1979, Chennai-born and raisedChandrikaKrishnamurthyTandon has straddledthe world of high finance andbusiness, humanitarian causesand education with her philan-thropic pursuits and music. Butit’s music that has given her themantra by which she now lives:Love, Light and Laughter.

In the world of finance and
consulting, Tandon and her husband Ranjan Tandon founded
the New York-based advisory
firm Tandon Capital Associates
Inc., where they helped catalyze
companies and organizations
into realizing their full market
potential.

Through philanthropy, she
also helped achieve other transformations. With the
Krishnamurthy Tandon
Foundation, she has been
involved with the Lincoln Center
for the Performing Arts, the
President’s Global Council of
New York University and had
additional governance roles in
New York University’s school of
engineering — for which the
Tandons donated $100 million.

The school was renamed the
NYU Tandon School of
Engineering in October 2015.

She serves on a variety ofother boards and is an advisor tothe presidents of Yale Universityand Berklee College of Music inBoston, Massachusetts. Tandon,both individually and throughher foundation, has also provid-ed grants over the years to morethan 30 institutions around theworld, including Pratham USA,Council.

But it is music that ultimatelytransformed Tandon herself. Infact, the Grammy nominee - acomposer, recording artist andperformer — has released herfourth full-length album“Shivoham — The Quest,” whichshe says encapsulates her 20-year journey “towards the light.”An alumna of MadrasChristian College, where shereceived a bachelor’s degree, shewas actively involved in many ofthe cultural and leadershipevents on campus, and was apopular president of women stu-dents. At 18, she enrolled in thecompetitive Indian Institute ofManagement in Ahmedabad andby 20 began her career workingin Beirut with CitiCorp duringthe height of that country’s civilwar in 1975.

Landing a job with the global
consultant McKinsey &
Company, she came to New York
City, becoming the first immigrant and minority woman hired
and later was one of the earliest
women to make partner in the
firm.

By 1992, she had gone out on
her own to form her own company with her husband and also
launch her humanitarian and
philanthropic endeavors.

In 2004, Tandon turned toserious music. She debuted with“Soul Mantra: Om NamahShivaya,” an album which wasalso a gift to her father-in-law forhis 90th birthday. This was fol-lowed by “Soul Call: Om: NamoNarayanaya” in 2009 — whichbecame a Grammy nominee inthe category of BestContemporary World Music, pit-ting her against such artists asBela Fleck, Sergio Mendes andAngelique Kidjo. Then came“Soul March” in 2013. She wasdeep into her fourth album when“Shivoham” happened.

Music, she says, came late in
her life although it was always
burning inside of her. “I was an
unrelenting, extremely driven,
type-A perfectionist,” says
Tandon.

“I was hard on others and
myself, always striving to do my
best for clients, family, friends —
the bar of perfection was always
rising.” Despite all the outward
trappings of business success,
she says, she felt “oppressed” by
her inability to fully express herself with the music she had composed.

Those moments came, how-ever, about two decades ago,when she was already well intoher 40s. She says she asked her-self “What is enough? Why am Ihere? What is success? What if Iwake up one day and find I havespent my time all wrong and it istoo late? What really makes mehappy?”Then came the epiphany: “Irealized that the happiestmoments of my life had to dowith some form of music.”With the release of“Shivoham” comes a renewedpromise: she has pledged that, aswith her previous albums, allproceeds will be donated tocharity.

S

he newest album fromGrammy nominee— the Quest” was recorded over atwo-year period with more than

270 musicians in nine studios
and in four countries — the U.S.,
India, South Africa, with the
Soweto choir, and in the iconic
Abbey Road Studios in London —
the original home of the Beatles’
recordings — where the bulk of
the sessions took place.

“We are all seeking something. We call it love, happiness,
success, peace. I am no exception,” said Tandon, a vocalist,
composer, businesswoman and
philanthropist.

In an exclusive interview withIndia Abroad, Tandon said thedouble album “is a musicalexpression of my intensely 20-year personal journey towardsthe light.” She recalled how inearly 2000, she had a longing forsomething “beyond,” whichgrew in intensity.

“I was a major participant in
the world of global finance and
business, with all the
trappings of success,”
she said. What followed was her quest
for answers, a search
for “that blissful,
happy place where we
permanently stay in
the light, in a place of
love and laughter.”
Her journey, she says,
could just as easily be
everyone’s.

The album, on the
Soul Chants label,
comprises 12 songs in
three movements and
is 90 minutes long.

Tandon performswith multiple world-renowned guest musi-cians, a number ofthem from India. Mostof the verses are drawn fromancient Indian Sanskrit texts,some more than 5,000 years old.

“You could say that ChandrikaTandon has led two lives,” saidher biographer Jeff Tamarkin. “Inone of those lives, she is a suc-cessful businesswoman, dolingout advice to corporate execu-tives and sitting on the boards ofmajor financial firms.

In her other life, she is a virtuoso musician and vocalist whose
recordings are beloved by many
thousands internationally.” T

TETE-A-TETE

Successis Musicto herEars

Philanthropist,businesswomanChandrika Tandonstrives forthe high notesChandrika Tandon, a businesswoman,Grammy-nominated artist and humanitarian,recently released her fourth full-length album,“Shivoham - The Quest,” which she says encapsulatesher 20-year journey “towards the light.”Chandrika Tandon during a practicesession with musician Kenny Werner.